Hi there,

I just purchased XP Pro and a new 120GB WD Hard Drive w/8MB cache. I currently have a 40GB WD hd w/2MB cache and running Windows ME on it. I am a "installation/formatting" novice and am having difficulty figuring out the best configuration for my hard drive and new OS.

Currently the 40GB WD I have has lots of music (downloaded .wav live shows) and video on it that I want to keep. However I havent gotten around to backing them all up to cd (all 30GB or so of music/vids...)

So here are my questions. Please bare with me...I am guessing for the best performance, I should use the new 120 GB hdd as the master and install XP Pro in it? How do I install XP Pro onto the new 120GB hd while Win ME is running on my system? Any suggestions on how i should partition the new and old drives with my apps (photoshop, illustrator, games, etc), data, backup files, etc.?

I have no desire to keep Win ME after the horror I've been through, but I guess i could keep it on the 40 GB hd until I get my data transferred and XP is working right? So eventually should I just run XP Pro on the 120GB and then STILL USE the 40GB for extra storage or will the 120GB be enough? Someone recommended to me that I should partition about 10GB for XP Pro when I install it. Does that sound about right?

O.k. I've asked about a thousand questions. Thanks to any kind hearts that can help me make some sense out of this. I really appreciate any and all assistance and input.
Have a nice Sunday.

Raffman

If you are not gonna keep ME, then yes make a minimum 6GB partition and install XP on it, using NTFS for efficiancy. The use the rest for programs and files. Install the 120 as the master disk, and set the 40 as a slave. You will have full access to the older drive to rearrange as you like, including deleting the windows folder and such you no longer will be using.
As for install, just boot from the XP cd and closely follow the directions.
You will never have enough HD space...use both!

Hi, I'm no expert (I've got a question on here myself),but here goes; if your boot sequence has a cd option enabled and you boot with the new drive in number 1 ide slot,(set to master) it will not detect an o/p on the hdd and then boot from the cd and you can install xp from the options listed, you can fit your old hdd on another ide slot or as a slave, I belive it will only boot from ide 1, and so will ignore the ME installed, you can lift off your files easier than from a cd, thats how I have mine at the moment.(I only fitted the old hdd after setting up the new one, but I don't think it matters)
Hope this is of help
Andy

Thanks for both of your replies. So I guess this can be easier than I thought. I will set the new 120gb as the master, the old 40gb as the slave. I can format the new 120gb drive, booting up with the xp pro cd, and then transfer over all my data and files from the older 40gb. Than I can go back and delete the windows folder on the old drive. Right? Other than the 6+GB for the xp pro partition, any suggestions as to how I should partition the rest of the 106+GB's on my new hard drive and then on my 40GB(sizes and contents of each partition)? I've never formatted an hdd before so this is new terrain for me. And no matter how much I read about it, it just doesnt seem to sink in...

Thanks again for any help!!

Raffman

To be honest, the easiest for you will be to make the 6+ during the install. Then when up and running, use Disk Manager to partition, format the rest AFTER it is running. That will give you a good picture of what you have and you can take your time deciding how you want the rest to be set up. You can leave the rest as one big partition, or make one to install programs, one for your saved files, making it easier to back them up. you can always adjust the sizes later with Partition Magic, if you set them up as BASIC disks (an option when partitioning in NT).
If you are gonna transfer your stuff from the old drive to the new, you can just reformat the old one in the same console when done. Then you will have a clean 40GB to arrange & store stuff.

when playing with hard drives and partitions I would get a copy of partition magic its great and makes it all easy

Is there a ballpark for how big the subsequesnt partitions for apps, data, etc. should be or will Partition Magic give you suggestions?

Also is there a chance i could lose my data when I transfer from the old disc to new?

I read a post to this list recently(not sure where it is now) that said Partition Magic does not work well with WIN XP. Any truth to that?

Thanks again for all your help. I finally feel like I have some clarity. Phew!

Set the bios to boot to the cd rom drive. You may have to change the boot order to it. Then start the machine with the new drive as master and old as slave. Boot to the XP cd and start the setup. Use the format procedure to partition and format the new drive. An earlier post recommended a 6 gig active primary partition for the OS, I agree. Break the rest of the hard drive into 5 more equal extended partitons and make them logical drives, best formatted in NTFS as fat 32 has a limitation of 36 gigs.
After the drive is partitioned and all drives on it are formatted then install XP. You don't even have to touch the 40 gig until you have XP and all drivers up and running.
After XP checks out ok then copy everything you want to save off the 40 gig, then you can format it from within XP.

Well, since you now have 30-GB of music/videos, I'd create a rather large partition for these. Then create a separate partition for apps. It'll make disc maintenance quicker. No need to defrag 30-GB of MP3's just to make excel run quicker. If you're a gamer, consider a separate partition for games, also. The size of the partitions really depends on what you use the computer for.

You might also consider using the 40-GB drive (or part of it) for backups. If you keep the OS on it's own partition & have a copy of it on the spare HD, you can recover from a system crash in very little time, with your apps & data secure on separate partitions when you format the C: partition & start over.

HTH

Dave

Thanks for your help everyone. I am going to start my install of the hdd and xp tonight.

So Dave and others-

Might a logical partition setup for the new 120GB hard drive look like this?

Partition #1: 6GB - XP PRO OS

Partition #2: 60GB - Music/video collection

Partition #3: 10GB - Applications

Partition #3: 10GB - Documents, saved files

Partition #4: 10GB - ?

Partition #5: 10GB - ?

Will I get 120GB to use or will it be like 116GB?

I'm having a difficult time figuring out what to put on partiton 4 and partition 5. Any suggestions? I dont really use games that much.

(I do have photoshop, illustrator, and will be getting DVD editing software and audio editing software too).

Maybe just make my partition #2 total 80GB? That partition #2 would include some MP3's, but mostly it will contain .SHN (SHORTEN) files of live concerts and .wav files of the same (so, bigger than MP3).

Also, this may sound really stupid, but where does the labeling of my floppy drive (currently A:), my cdrw drive (D:), and my cd-rom drive (E:) come into play? I'm confused if I need to do anything with these drives during the partitioning stage of my new 120GB hard drive.

Thanks again everyone! Wish me luck.

Raffman